Letters To The Editor

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Foley touch not indispensable

How is this possible? It’s March, the base closure list has been announced, Fairchild is safe, and it’s been three months since Sir Thomas Foley worked his magic for Spokane.

Thank you, Rep. George Nethercutt. Greg Matney Diamond Lake

At least British recognize good man

I was so happy to see the British are going to knight Tom Foley. Too bad he wasn’t appreciated here at home. Sherry Hyams Spokane

A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Daughter should have had a chance

Life is a beautiful thing to be treasured. This does not mean that it will be free of pain.

The most beautiful things in life are often the most painful.

A classic example of this is the rose, a lovely flower adorned by thorns. And many mothers will testify that childbirth is the most painful experience of their life, yet it leads to a new and incredible dimension of their lives that they could not have previously imagined.

Deborah Rockstrom cut her daughter’s life short. The pain of childbirth, and in Ms. Rockstrom’s case the additional pain of being the primary caregiver, does not give a mother the right to decide whether her child lives or dies.

Yes, Erin wished for death. That is not uncommon in people who have had a debilitating injury.

She could have lived to triumph over her pain if she had been given a chance. Also, the poor girl was only 14 years old, an age when judgment is not the strongest.

It was her mother’s duty to protect and help her through this stage, not to give in to temptation.

You may ask who I am to say that that Erin should have lived. It was the powers that be that decided Erin was to be given a second chance at life when the gunshot wound did not kill her.

The real question is, who is Deborah Rockstrom to say Erin should die? Elissa Torretta Spokane

Others share mother’s pain

I feel that Debbie Rockstrom needs to know that many people who are just bystanders feel her pain.

As the mother of a 16-year-old son who was killed in a plane crash that erupted into flames, I’ve often wondered how my family would have coped if our son had lived.

What if he’d been so badly burned that he couldn’t go out in public, get married, enjoy warm summer days with his friends? What kind of life would there be for him?

Would he be in a wheelchair or bed-ridden and require constant care? Would he cope? How would we deal with the day-to-day stress, and how would I cope as his mother?

In the last few weeks I’ve once again felt the pain of losing our son; our community mourns the losses of Eddie Jones, Erin Rockstrom and the Lake City student. For parents who have lost a child, our tears help repair our hearts. Our pain goes on, but we slowly mend.

For Debbie Rockstrom, each day had to be like watching her beautiful daughter die over and over.

My heart, mind and soul know what it’s like to go without a child who means so much to you. I support Debbie’s choice for Erin to journey to a place where there is only joy and no pain.

I pray that Debbie will be supported by those close to her and know there are people who truly care and are praying for her now and in the years to come. Marsha Malsom Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Cartoon was anti-veteran, period

Your attempted justification of publishing the Steve Benson political cartoon criticizing World War II veterans was as sick as the cartoon.

Contrary to your suggestion that the cartoon was over the existence and use of the atomic bomb, it was not. If that was the issue, then President Truman, not the World War II veterans, would have been depicted as the villain.

The cartoon was a thinly disguised attack upon one whole segment of society. You in the media did this once before. You used this tactic while blasting involvement in the Vietnam War, and then never faced up to the obligation to protect the young men and women in the service from the public reaction of some to curse and spit. You know the effect that had on many of them.

Your conduct is no better than that of the Nazis who used this same tactic to nearly destroy another segment of society, the Jews.

To support this kind of bigotry under the guise of freedom of speech is certainly not what we fought for.

As a World War II veteran and a member of the division that freed the slaves at Ohrdruff, I am appalled that you journalists have learned so little from that war. Ernie Pyle would turn over in his grave. Peter B. Wilson Bonners Ferry, Idaho

KAISER STRIKE

Pay, benefits not as described

I must comment on James A. McDevitt’s March 1 letter, as I’ve worked at Kaiser-Mead for nearly 20 years. First, the average union member at Kaiser isn’t on salary, but earns about $12.50 per hour. Maintenance personnel at the top of the scale earn about $14 per hour.

Secondly, we don’t have fully funded medical and dental benefits. We have to contribute to our plans with substantial out-of-pocket expense.

As for our “generous” retirement package, after 30 years of services, a retiree gets about $650 a month - hardly living high on the hog. Only salaried personnel receive employer contributions to their 401K plans.

Union members’ vacations start at one week for a new employee to a maximum of five weeks vacation after 25 years of service - not the 12 weeks stated by Mr. McDevitt.

Our “most generous” sick leave and disability package amounts to less than 50 percent of our wage, even for a job-related injury.

For a union member to earn $57,000 a year, it would be necessary to work a double shift every day all year long. You can go nearly anywhere in Spokane and make wages and benefits as good, if not better, than those at Kaiser and not have to live with the nasty environmental conditions at the Kaiser-Mead plant.

If Kaiser could just hire replacement workers, it would have done so. It takes experienced people to produce a quality product.

I’m glad my union brothers and I are back at work, but I’m mad as hell. James T. Justice Springdale, Wash.

Kaiser donates food to homeless

Something good came out of the recent Kaiser Aluminum strike.

The early resolution benefited the employees and employers, but also the numerous homeless people who will be eating at the Union Gospel Mission in the weeks to come.

Wednesday morning both Kaiser plants sent a semitruck load of food to the Union Gospel Mission. Kaiser, which had purchased large quantities of beef, eggs and beverages for management meals during the strike, donated it all to help the hungry of Spokane.

Kaiser’s heart to share is a tremendous blessing and will help not only the Union Gospel Mission but Anna Ogden Hall Women’s Shelter as well. The volume of items they donated will cut our food needs down over the next couple of months.

We greatly appreciate the company’s sensitivity to help the homeless. Even in the midst of their own difficulties, they were not distracted from the needs of our community. Phil Altmeyer, executive director Union Gospel Mission, Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Traditional family unit worked

Headline in the March 2 Spokesman-Review: “‘90s America trying so hard to recreate its fantasy of the ‘50s.”

It was a great time to live and so unfortunate that our society has changed so drastically since that golden time.

Having lived during that time, I can only say it was a wonderful period. My belief is that the traditional American family is what made this magic era possible.

The family not only preached moral values; they lived them as a unit.

When the early 1970s rolled around and the women’s‘ liberation began to take hold, the mother and traditional home leader or binding force of the family was no longer satisfied in her role. She wanted to work outside the home to enhance the family income.

This escalated to the point that soon two incomes were necessary to maintain a household. With both parents working, the traditional family unit became less and less functional. We often see what has transpired since that time.

This analysis may seem an oversimplification for today’s social ills, but the family formula worked for generations prior to the problems we suffer from today. James A. Nelson Spokane

Journey is to an opportunity

I read with great interest “Journey of faith,” about the many Russian immigrants in the United States.

In 1954, when I was 25, I immigrated into Canada. I had $90, didn’t know English and was alone. Some people who had come over on the ship with me got me a job as a dishwasher for $100 a month. I couldn’t work as a dental assistant as I had in Germany.

It was a back-breaking job to wash dishes by hand for 120 people morning, noon and night. The loneliness and the homesickness were almost unbearable.

The next winter I went to night school to learn English and worked in a household with three small children. I earned $100 per month for one year. After that I waited on tables and in four years was able to save the $1,500 required to enter the United States.

I’ve lived in the United States for 37 years, become a proud U.S. citizen and was a successful real estate broker for 25 years. I saved enough money to retire.

To Russian immigrants who find it hard to adapt, I say: Hard work and long hours are a must. It will pay off. Starting at the bottom gives you a wonderful opportunity; you can only work yourselves up. Learning English is the most important thing; speak only English at home and please learn some American ways.

America doesn’t owe you anything. It’s a privilege to come to America. I will be thankful for that until the day I die. Martha M. Bennett Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND THE NEEDY

Center working on poverty issues

Both in Congress and in the Washington Legislature there is current debate about welfare reform and programs that perpetuate poverty. It is timely for communities to address the issues of poverty that affect the health and well-being of our citizens.

No longer can city councils, chambers of commerce and other interests allow this problem to be debated and decided by state and federal interests. No longer can groups traditionally active in this area, such as churches and charitable organizations, be expected to carry all the load.

Their efforts help to reduce the symptoms of poverty with food, clothing and financial support, but they cannot attack the root causes of poverty to bring about necessary changes.

Thinking about poverty brings fear, confusion and feelings of helplessness to all of us. It is hard to see young mothers and fathers raise their children in poverty, facing shortages of food and money, substandard housing, disrespect and a lack of resources to provide what middleincome families have.

It is also hard to see people forced to be dependent on the welfare system.

However, the situation is not hopeless. Options exist to get the process moving.

The staff of Community Action Center are involved in positive, change-oriented efforts to work with communities on economic issues - through microenterprise development, job skills and employment training, family support services and upgrade of housing. We welcome the public’s interest, questions and ideas.

We can be reached in Pullman at 334-9147 or in Colfax, 397-2205. Judy Allen, executive director Community Action Center, Whitman County

Republicans serve themselves

Amazing! The Republicans have done it again. They say there is more poverty now than there was before the war on poverty began in 1960. So what do they do to ease poverty?

They cut $7 billion from the school lunch program, summer programs for children, food and monetary aid to poor families, public housing, rent subsidies for lowincome families and aid for single mothers.

Do they really think this is going to upgrade the poverty level?

I think not. All this will do is put more women out on the streets selling their bodies to even exist. What good will it do to publish the names and impound the cars of men who are willing to pay for their services, when the Republicans have also cut $272 million from law enforcement?

There are not enough jobs to support the poor, so if there is no money, no homes and no way to pay for the essentials, crime is going to run rampant and there will not be enough law enforcement officers to handle it.

What have the Republicans done for the poor? Basically they have killed them. They are only interested in filling their already overflowing pockets, and the hell with anyone who can’t help them do that.

God help our country. The Republicans sure won’t. Betty Randall Moses Lake

Welfare use plan attractive

Regarding the March 1 Your Turn column:

Dear Shari: Let me see if I got this right. You are a ninth-grade dropout who got pregnant at age 16 and you hope society will continue to subsidize the cost of raising your child for several more years as you strive toward getting a free college education.

I commend you. A person who can spend two years getting a GED should easily be able to spend six years or more getting a bachelor’s degree. By that time, your son should be 10. Then why not a master’s degree or Ph.D.? It strikes me that you are already entered into a career.

By the time my white, lower middle class son graduates with a teaching certificate, he will be able to begin a lowpaying job carrying a larger debt load than the cost of a modest house. I commend you. I only regret that I had no welfare support to offer my son. Ty Horn Spokane

Republicans failed to reform welfare

In response to the gentleman who wrote the March 1 letter blaming the Democrats for the failed welfare system:

Sir, the Republicans had 12 years to restructure the welfare system and didn’t do it. They would rather, since they are in control now, repeal affirmative action and prevent an increase in the minimum wage. And by doing so, they may very well force people to continue to rely on welfare to some extent.

I agree with Russell Baker. The Republican contract isn’t with America; it’s on America. Sherry Koers Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Block grant approach big mistake

Of all the wretchedly bad ideas hatched by the Republicans in Congress, the idea of sending block grants of federal money down to the states is the worst. Nothing will fracture the country the way doing that will.

The illusion that states automatically know best how to spend tax dollars on things like education, welfare and crime is pure folly. Once the money comes down, you don’t know what would become of it. No politics are as corrupt as local politics.

It’s George Wallace’s states’ rights all over again.

Sorry, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, but this country a long time ago decided it was not going to be a collection of independent states linked together in a loose association. That issue was settled in 1861-65, when the rebellious Confederate States of America ran smack into a resolute Republican lawyer from Illinois, Abe Lincoln, who, with the Union Army, decided the question was worth spilling blood over.

Lincoln said this nation is not going to be a confederacy, that it is a close-knit federal union with a strong central government, so the Southerners could forget it. Lincoln’s Republican successors, who have obviously forgotten his legacy, should forget it, too.

One nation and one people, we need uniform federal standards for such important things as education and welfare. We can’t have a polyglot of backward states, progressive states and some states in between. The nation will be balkanized if we let this happen. We should fight it tooth and nail. Jack Jennings Spokane

No welfare for Mariners

Welfare for the Mariners? Republicans can’t find money to properly fund education. The Republicans can’t find money to build new schools. Republicans can’t find money to give state workers a well-deserved pay raise. But they can find money to build a new stadium for those Mariners.

Shouldn’t we take care of our own people first, before the needs of a baseball team? Glen Jones Spokane